Human Resources Management

The Capacity Project has made specific technical contributions to shape and advance the human resources management professional development agenda at the global, regional and country level since 2005. This brief describes the rationale, process, methodology and some of the results of key approaches that the Project and its collaborating partners developed and implemented in sub-Saharan Africa. [from author]

The author outlines the results of the Emergency Hiring Plan which was designed to quickly hire and train large numbers of qualified health workers in Kenya and deploy them where they are most needed. [adapted from author]

Within the broad subject field of human resource development, human resource management is the most substantial area, as it involves all aspects of personnel management as well as issues of capacity, training, etc. In this unit [of the online course] we will introduce you to the scope and context of human resource management in the health sector. [from author]

The fundamental importance of human resources for the development of health care systems is recognized the world over. Health districts, which constitute the middle level of the municipal health care system in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, deal with demands from all parts of the system. This research seeks to provide the essential features required in order to understand the phenomenon of increase in precarity of employment in these health districts. [from abstract]

This field guide is intended to provide some help with the task of improving the delivery of health services using standards of care as the basis for improvement. This guide is designed to answer questions such as: What types of standards are really useful to local providers and mangers? How can they be implemented in a practical way? How can the improvement process be supported?

Improving health workers’ performance is vital for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. In the literature on human resource management interventions to improve health workers’ performance in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC), hardly any attention has been paid to the question how HRM interventions might bring about outcomes and in which contexts. Our aim was to explore if realist review of published primary research provides better insight into the functioning of interventions in LMIC. [abstract]

This working paper aims to outline the evolving picture of how London’s health care labour market is performing within the context of these changes by comparing previous findings with more recent data. It also looks at the challenges ahead and some possible ways forward. [adapted from introduction]

This study aims to undertake a national assessment of existing district management structures, competencies and current training programmes in order to inform a national strategy and plan to strengthen district management capacity to ensure effective delivery of primary health care in South Africa. [from introduction]

This commentary outlines strategies the authors have found successful in aligning health education and training with local health needs in ways that demonstrate socially accountable outcomes for Vancouver Island, Canada. [adapted from abstract]

The nursing workforce in many countries today is more age diverse than ever before in history. Each generation has a distinct set of characteristics, values, beliefs and preferences. Understanding these differences and blending them in the workplace challenges even the most experienced and capable leader. This paper identifies the characteristics of each generation and explores several implications for the effective management of nursing services. [from foreword]

Strong leadership and management skills are crucial to finding solutions to the human resource crisis in health. Health professionals and human resource (HR) managers worldwide who are in charge of addressing HR challenges in health systems often lack formal education in leadership and management. The Virtual Leadership Development Program is a web-based leadership development program that combines face-to-face and distance learning methodologies to strengthen the capacity of teams to identify and address health challenges and produce results. [adapted from abstract]

Interviews were conducted with staff of 4 hospitals thought to be functioning relatively well. The purpose of this study was to understand some of the factors contributing to the relative success of 4 South African distric hospitals, in order to share lessons learned with other institutions. A number of key factors were identified through this process, many of which relate to the performance, management and interactions of the health workers, which appear to be important in effective functioning of district hospitals. [adapted from summary]

This qualitative study was undertaken to explore and describe the experiences of professional nurses in their relationships with nurse managers. [from abstract]

This technical brief describes in some detail the human resources managment (HRM) problems that contribute to the health worker crisis, as these have often been underplayed, or not addressed at all. The brief also identifies specific strategic actions that ought to be taken to address these HRM challenges, and concludes with some examples of broad futuristic thinking and innovations to stimulate donor and programmatic funding opportunities for strengthening HRH. [from author]

This paper argues that stronger and values-based public sector management and leadership is essential in building health systems that better address health inequities. It identifies the particular competencies of public sector managers and reviews evidence on how these competencies can be developed. Renewing the values base of public health system managers and professionals is an important requirement. [from summary]

In South Africa, first-contact primary care is delivered by nurses in small clinics and larger community health centres (CHC). CHCs also employ doctors, who often work in isolation from the nurses, with poor differentiation of roles and little effective teamwork or communication. Worcester CHC, a typical public sector CHC in rural South Africa, decided to explore how to create more successful practice teams of doctors and nurses.

This mid-term evaluation report focuses on Capacity Project support to the Government of Kenya’s Emergency Hiring Plan. It assesses the main achievements, challenges and impact on service delivery and health systems improvement, from the plan’s inception through the November 2007 mid-point. The report outlines all aspects of the approach used, providing clear recommendations on how the Ministry of Health may strengthen its existing human resource systems on the basis of lessons learned, and provides additional insights to the process, which may be useful for informing similar country contexts.

This paper reports on the design and implementation of a completely new pay system in the National Health Service (NHS) in England.Pay and pay systems are a critical element in any health sector human resource strategy. Changing a pay system can be one strategy to achieve or sustain organizational change. [from abstract]

Two crises dominate the health sectors of sub-Saharan African countries: those of human resources and of HIV. There is considerable variation in the extent to which these two phenomena affect sub-Saharan countries, with a few facing extreme levels of both. This paper reviews the continent-wide situation with respect to this double burden before considering the case of Malawi in more detail. [from abstract]

This article describes the experience of the Family Life Education Programme, a reproductive health program that provides community-based health services through 40 clinics in five districts of Uganda, in improving retention and performance by using the Human Resource Management Rapid Assessment Tool. [adapted from abstract]

Despite rising attention to the acute shortage of health care workers, solutions to the human resource crisis are difficult to achieve, especially in the poorest countries. Although we are aware of the issues and have developed HR strategies, the problem is that some old systems of leading and managing human resources for health do not work in today's context. In these cases and others, a more appropriate mode of leadership, linked to reforming management systems and committed to moving beyond planning to implementation, is essential to the solution. [from abstract]

The purpose of this study was to identify and recommend strategies for tackling the underlying issues in the human resources for health (HRH) management process in Uganda with an eye towards addressing the HRH crisis. [from executive summary]

Modernizing the way health care professionals are educated and engaged in their vital work requires a collaborative and coordinated approach among many players. The Health Council convened the summit on health human resources to focus on practical, short-term solutions. This report attempts to capture the lively discussion and encouraging examples of innovation brought forward at that forum, organized into four theme areas: education and training, scopes of practice, workplace practices and planning. [adapted from author]

Management Sciences for Health has developed an approach to helping managers become more like coaches, which has proven successful in various settings. This issue of the eManager will help you examine your managerial practices and give you the tools to expand your role from manager to manager as coach.

This presentation was given at the First Forum on Human Resources for Health in Kampala. It defines health leadership and management, why strengthening it is important, the lessons learned so far, and the main components and uses of the WHO framework. [adapted from author]

This presentation was given at the First Forum on Human Resources for Health in Kampala. It outlines the internal and external environmental issues for district medical officers and describes what these officers need in terms of support.

This presentation was given at the First Forum on Human Resources for Health in Kampala. It discusses the impact of human resource management on health and details a work climate assessment from Kenya.

In an initiative to collate experiences on management development in low resource settings, WHO carried out case studies to explore management development approaches and how these impacted managerial and service delivery performance. [adapted from author]

Capacity management systems create insight into required resources like staff and equipment. For inpatient hospital care, capacity management requires information on beds and nursing staff capacity, on a daily as well as annual basis. This paper presents a comprehensive capacity model that gives insight into required nursing staff capacity and opportunities to improve capacity utilization on a ward level. [from abstract]

A healthcare system that supports effective teamwork can improve the quality of patient care, enhance patient safety, and reduce workload issues that cause burnout among healthcare professionals. To support the movement to make teamwork a reality, this report was commissioned to outline the characteristics of an effective team, how to measure its effectiveness, what interventions have been successful in implementing and sustaining teamwork in healthcare, lessons from other settings and countries, and the barriers to implementation in Canada. [adapted from executive summary]